Tuesday, 16 March 2010

Fractured Legs

Fractured legs, also referred to as broken legs, are some of the most common injuries in auto/truck/motorcycle or industrial accidents. These may seem like minor injuries, but can have a serious impact on how quickly you can get back on your feet, quite literally, and be able to get on with your life after an accident.

To understand how a fracture can occur, it is important to understand the several bones that make up your leg. The human leg is made up of four bones - the femur, the tibia, the patella, and the fibula. A fracture can involve breaking up of any of these bones into two or more pieces.

Fractured legs are commonly seen in:

Car and truck accidents

Bicycle and motorcycle accidents

Workplace accidents

Slip and fall accidents

ATV accidents

Skiing accidents

While the above are typically trauma fractures, leg fractures can also result from repetitive stress. Such structures are known as stress fractures. For instance, the kind of pressure that an athlete or a marathon runner is under, can cause the bones to be placed under stress, and eventually split.

Typically, a leg fracture will involve the following symptoms:

Extreme pain in the area

Swelling

Bruising

Angulation

Leg fractures can be of several types. These include:

Open fractures

Closed fractures

Spinal fractures

Comminuted fractures

Proximal fractures

Transverse fractures

Distal fractures

Even a simple fracture can have you off your feet for several days and weeks while the bone heals. Multiple fractures may take a longer healing time. In any case, a person involved in an accident who suffers a fractured leg, is looking at heavy medical bills, lost wages from days off work, and physical therapy and rehabilitation costs.

A claim for a fractured leg will not be the same in every situation. Two different persons suffering from the same kind of leg fracture in two different accidents, may not be eligible for the same kind of payout. There are a number of factors for your Nevada personal injury lawyer to consider before arriving at the claim amount. These include:

Severity of the fracture

Intensity of treatment

Whether surgeries were required

Pain and suffering involved during the fracture

Suffering during the treatment

Besides, the specific loss to the person must be considered. A fractured leg may be a bigger loss to a professional ballet dancer, and not so much to the next person.